Christmas Story
by PoppyHermanson
Summary: -Not related to any books, couldn't find a better category to post in- Apollo and Artemis, twin siblings from the North Pole, find themselves in one of the most hectic Christmas's in elven history. But what do they do about the humans they're stuck with?
1. Info and Whatnot

Alright, alright, I know I'm neglecting my Warriors fic, but this has taken priority for now. This is a story I've been writing for the passed year or two. I've got some...twenty-something chapters hand-written, but only one has been successfully edited and typed up. This isn't one of the chapters, but it's more like a...character information type of thing.

I'm hoping to get this one published in real life, and figured I'd give it a test run before anything is finalized on this website. I'm also posting the chapters as they're typed on my Myspace.

Also...For now, this is being called "Christmas Story" or anything similar. I haven't decided on a title yet. If you have any ideas, please, send them in!

So...yeah. On with m'story, I guess.

Disclaimer: ...I actually DO own this story. xD Go me.

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_**F**or as long as Kris Kringle has been alive, the factory in the North Pole has been responsible each Christmas year for making presents to give to the human children. Centuries upon centuries of hard work has given way to a solid work force, the elves who are truly the ones to thank for making such gifts. However, those elves could not have gotten their work done if it were not for the Nine High-Ranks, an ever-changing group of elves who take on more human-like appearances and provide the strength, loyalty and kindness the workers depend on._

**The Nine High-Ranking Elves**

**First elf**—Sky: A stoic, blond-haired, blue-eyed elf with an earring of a lion head in his right ear; he is in charge of the entire factory, and is responsible for assigning jobs to all other elves on a day-to-day basis.

**Second elf**— Désiré: Tall, lanky and battle-scarred, he is one of the oldest elves still working in the factory; if Sky is ever unable to do his work, Désiré is called on to do it for him; he is the only elf in the factory allowed to be informal with Mister Kringle.

**Third elf**—Dilan: Said to be the strongest elf in the entire North Pole; he can often be found out in the pine tree forest chopping wood for the factory.

**Fourth elf**—Aïs: The most fierce of any elf in the factory; he has an X-shaped scar on his face, and has a very low tolerance for pests.

**Fifth elf**—Lea: One of, if not the tallest elf in the North Pole; he has flaming red hair and a rough personality to match; he isn't afraid to play dirty in order to get what he wants.

**Sixth elf**—Essyn: Lea's counterpart and best friend; often found in the cafeteria cooking alongside Ienzo; he is good friends with the twins, despite Lea's hatred of them.

**Seventh elf**—Ienzo: One of the quietest workers in the factory, and a major bookworm; being the best cook in the North Pole, when not making food for the other elves, he can be found in the library that his family owns (a previous birthday gift from Mister Kringle).

**Eighth elf**—Apollo: An energetic, spiky-blond-haired elf said to have the brightest blue eyes any being had ever seen; he is a hard worker and determined to become the next First elf; he is the older twin brother of Artemis.

**Ninth elf**—Artemis: Apollo's younger twin sister, said to have the fairest brown hair and green eyes bright enough to rival his blue ones; she doesn't care as much for work, and is always fascinated by humans.

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Again--those are just the main elven characters. There's more to the story than just them, I assure you.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Prologue

**Prologue**Mmkay! The prologue takes place a while before the story actually starts. It's just to kind of... give some heads up to...something... Actually, I don't even know, I wrote it at the tailend of my writer's block. xD So, it sucks, pretty much. Enjoy anyway.

Disclaimer: I DO OWN THIS STORY. As well as the characters. So...yeah... xD

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A resonate knock on the solid pine wood door announced the presence of someone on the other side. Mister Kringle glanced up from the mass amounts of papers stacked high on his desk. He did not have to ask to know who was outside of his office. "Come in, Sky, the door is open."

Slowly the slab of wood pushed inward, the golden hinges squeaking slightly, until the blond-haired man behind it could step into the office-like room. Mister Kringle could not help but notice how uneasy Sky looked; his uniform hat was slightly lopsided, his big blue eyes deeply troubled, and a firmly set frown was across his lips. But then again, it was probably to be expected. Sky was a very smart fellow, and rumors had been going around like wildfire throughout the factory. He probably had no idea what to make of the situation at hand… Mister Kringle chuckled to himself. "Now, now, Sky, no need to be so reluctant. I merely wanted to ask you something." He gestured a large hand toward the red and white-striped chair on the other side of his desk. "Sit, please."

Sky sat as told, his back rigidly straight and his leather-gloved hands gripping at the red cotton of his uniform pants tightly. Mister Kringle started to frown a little, himself. There was something else that was making Sky edgy; something he clearly did not know about. But what, he wondered?

Reclining back in his own chair, Mister Kringle sighed lightly. Things were so stressful, lately. "Now, Sky. I'm sure you are aware of the factory's current situation."

"Yes, sir." Sky muttered stoically with one nod of his head.

"We need a new First elf." Kringle raised a bushy, gray eyebrow. "Ever since Dionysus vanished, and poor Harmonia's death, the workers have been very edgy lately. They especially can not work without someone to lead them in their tasks. There is also the matter of… the twins."

Sky raised his eyes. Mister Kringle cleared his throat with a cough into one fist. "I promised Harmonia that they would be taken care of. But I heard about what the eldest tried to do, today." The blond-haired elf noticeably flinched. _Ah,_ Mister Kringle thought. _That was what had him so on-edge._

"S-sir," Sky's hands fidgeted in his lap. "I… I will take full responsibility for the twins' actions from here on out. Until they can handle themselves, I mean. Th-they can stay with me. I've got plenty of room at home for children."

Mister Kringle shook his head at once. He sat up straighter in his chair, and so did Sky, with defiance of all levels shining like liquid fire in his eyes. The look made Kringle stop for an instant… and then he smiled.

"Sky," he began. "Those are noble words for someone still so young. You're hardly out of the nest yourself, and you think you can take care of two—"

"Sir, I beg of you!" Suddenly Sky was launching himself at the desk, gripping the edge closest to him with iron strength. Mister Kringle looked right at him, and all he saw was a desperate need to help those two children—and a strike of painful memories he knew Sky remembered just as much as he himself did, from many years ago.

_That's right… Sky's parents died when he was young, too. _The old man frowned. _How thoughtless of me. I should have known he'd want to be there for the twins._

A long silence followed afterwards. Sky didn't sit back down; he just kept staring straight forward with such an intense gaze it made Mister Kringle turn his own eyes elsewhere. For a while, he just thought to himself in silence; weighing his options, seeing how things could possibly turn out if he made one decision or the other.

Finally, he turned his gaze back to the elf; his mind made up.

"Sky, if you want to take care of those children, then I have one condition for you. You must take Dionysus's place at once!" A look of surprise formed on the elf's face; Mister Kringle continued speaking, not wanting to hear any of his objections. "We need a First elf. No one else in this factory is as fit for the position as you are, and you know it. Everyone knows it." Mister Kringle leaned back in his seat again, lacing his fingers over his large stomach and watching the mix of emotions flicker across the elf's face: shock, confusion, wonder, determination. The silence stretched on. When Kringle was about to speak again, Sky beat him to it.

"…Alright." Stiffly, the elf sat down in his seat again. He looked rather dejected, though. "I'll… I'll take Dionysus's place."

"And in return, you get to help the twins. But only you," Sky looked at him, baffled, but Mister Kringle just stared back sternly. "I don't mind if you get help on occasion, but you are the one who wanted to take care of them so much. Therefore, they will be your responsibility until they can work on their own."

At first, he thought Sky would argue. Yet the elf just nodded, turned his eyes to his lap and fell silent. A new quiet formed in the relatively large office-like room. All the while, Sky kept his eyes on his hands, and Mister Kringle kept his wandering about on a distracted train of thought. Before long, they turned back to the new First elf.

"I'll make the announcement at dinner, but for now… we need to reorganize the rankings. That is the first matter the First elf must take on."

Sky glanced at him, hesitant. Kringle could see the gears turning in his head, though, and waited patiently. After a second, he grabbed the candy-cane-designed pen from the corner of his desk, and shuffled about for a fresh sheet of blank paper as well. He would have to write this down to keep track.

"For Second elf…I'm going to pick Bailey. I…I guess she'd be good. For Third, I…I want Désiré. Dilan for Fourth… Aïs Fifth. Ienzo Sixth, Axelle Seventh, Lea Eighth, and… um, Dawn for Ninth."

Writing the names down in the order Sky had given them, Kringle cast a slightly unsure glance to the blond-haired elf. "Are you positive?"

Sky flashed a worried look. Mister Kringle figured he was just nervous about messing up, so he gave a reassuring smile. "Just to make sure, Sky. The rankings are just as important as the positions themselves, you know."

The elf nodded his head in understanding. "Then, yes. I'm positive that's the order I want."

"Very well," Mister Kringle set his pen down, pushing it and the paper aside. "You're dismissed, Sky. And thank you, very much. The whole of the factory thanks you."

Sky's cheeks flushed a pale shade of red, but he only nodded. As he stood up and straightened his coat and hat, he stopped, chewing on his lip as a nervous-sort of habit of his. Then he looked back to Mister Kringle.

"…Would you like me to send the eldest twin here?"

A small grin worked its way onto the old man's face. "Ah, Sky, you know me so well. Yes, please. I'd appreciate that. A word with him now would be best before things get out of hand even more." Sky nodded and turned to leave, but Mister Kringle called him back. "Just a moment! While you're at it… do feel free to move into your new office, my friend. Why don't you get someone to help you—Essyn, maybe? He could use the energy break."

"…Sure." Muttered the elf. He dipped his head in farewell to Mister Kringle, and then headed out of the room. The door shut with an almost-soundless 'click' behind him.


	3. Chapter One

**Chapter I**

Snazz, dude. Chapter one. xD Mmkay then. Uh...yeah. Not much to say about it. Enjoy, I guess. This is where things kind of start rolling.

Disclaimer: I DO own this story, and every character and plot and whatever else is included.

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"Artemis! Wake up, you lazy!"

The red-and-white-striped blankets atop the snoozing brunette were roughly yanked away. Artemis groaned and forced open her eyes to glower sleepily at her older twin brother. Naturally, Apollo was already dressed and ready to start the long day-to-come; he was clad in the regular work uniform of all the workers in the factory, a regular red jacket (with a cotton-edged hood), matching pants, black boots and gloves, and even a "Santa hat" upon his head of unruly spiky-blond hair. Twins though they were, Artemis was always thankful her and her brother didn't look more alike. He had the bright golden-yellow hair and bright blue eyes, while she had the much-neater dark brown hair and bright green eyes. Aside from those aspects (and multiple personality differences) they were exactly the same.

Suddenly recalling how her brother was waiting for her to get up… Artemis groaned again and buried her head into her pillow. "No, I don't want to!" She whined.

Apollo sighed, exasperated. "Come on, Artemis. We were assigned the job and we are going to do it!"

"What are we doing today?" Artemis asked, although she only nestled her head further into her pillow.

"We're running the reindeer today. So get up! We have to be at the paddock by noon!"

Huffing under her breath, Artemis was almost tempted to go back to sleep and ignore her brother. She didn't like running the reindeer… They were so temper-mental, and she swore none of them liked her (unlike Apollo; they all just _adored_ him). "Ugh, can't you get Essyn to do it with you?"

"Artemis…" Oh boy; that was his warning voice.

Artemis groaned finally and abruptly sat up, leering at her older (by only a minute) brother. "Fine, fine, I'm coming…" She sighed as she started to pull herself from the bed. "The stupid bells kept me up all night, so I'm exhausted." She yawned loudly, and thankfully, it didn't take long before that regular happy-go-lucky attitude of hers began to kick in. With a snap of her fingers and a brief twinkle of light, her satin red-and-white striped pajamas transformed into her own work uniform; virtually the same thing as her brothers, only with a red knee-length skirt rather than pants. "Okay! Let's get going!"

Apollo was soon grins and smiles. "Great! And don't forget to grab a candy cane on the way out!" He instructed as he hurried from the bedroom. Artemis rolled her eyes, but quickly followed along. "I know, I know!"

They'd been doing this for a good, long time. She was sure she knew the routine by now.

Beside the front door on a little table in their two-person home, there was a bowl of multiple, differently-colored and flavored candy canes. There was peppermint, blueberry, strawberry and more; Apollo snatched a peppermint flavored one, while Artemis followed by grabbing her all-time favorite, strawberry.

Outside, Artemis ran a few paces ahead of her brother, then stopped and shoved the straight end of her 'breakfast' into her mouth. She kicked a pile of snow and sighed, letting her eyes close and stretching out her arms to the sides.

She loved it here. It was always so peaceful. Snow was always on the ground and it was almost-always sunny and bright, but it never got warm enough to melt the snow. Pine trees were planted here or there, some in clusters, others by themselves. There were numerous buildings of different sizes and shapes all made of pinewood or other wood from various lands around the world, and every building, bench or pine-tree patch was hand-made by the North Pole's inhabitants. Apollo, Artemis, and the rest of the population were hardworking Christmas elves. They could take on forms that looked entirely human, but even then they still had their very-pointy elven ears and sharper-than-human senses. The elves worked all throughout the year with different tasks that were assigned to them: caring for the very-important reindeer, building toys, teaching younger and less-experienced elves the ways of life, and more. Apollo and Artemis were by no means 'old' elves, but they weren't that young, either. Actually, they were as talented and experienced in their jobs as any of the "elderly" workers. They were also two of Nine High-Ranking elves in all of the North Pole, and they usually loved every minute of what they did. Then again, the highlight of their year every year was to ride on the sleigh come Christmas night, with their boss and grandfatherly-figure, old Kris Kringle himself, to help deliver the presents to the human children.

Of course… such a way of life wasn't just an easy walk in the park.

For elves, there were very strict rules and limitations. One rule was that no elf in any land was to ever come into contact with mortal humans. They were to remain loyal and true, and they were not allowed to use magic for evil doings. Elves could never tell a lie to another living creature, and they were to always keep every promise they made, no matter what.

But the biggest rule, by far, prohibited the act of revealing the secrets passed down from generation to elven generation: all the secrets relating to dear Santa Claus of the North Pole. Never was an elf to tell a mortal or wrong-doer of those secrets, even if their lives were on the line.

Of course… never had an elf on record broken any of those rules. Not recently, anyway.

Suckling on the end of her candy cane, Artemis opened her eyes to look upon her twin brother. She gave a challenging grin his way. "Race you to the field, Appy!"

Apollo's eyes narrowed playfully, but at nearly the exact same moment, the twins took off running. They tore through the snow at the same speed for a good few minutes before Artemis darted ahead, looking over her shoulder and laughing victoriously. "Ha! I'm going to win—"

Abruptly Artemis slammed into the back of a taller elf, coming to a quick stop and hitting the ground with a loud 'oof!' while Apollo, laughing, came to a halt beside her to help her back up.

"Nice one," he snickered.

"Shut up," Artemis grumbled as she swiped away the snow on her uniform. Simultaneously both twins glanced up, right into the faces of the three taller and higher-ranking elves they had run into.

It was Désiré, Dilan and Aïs, out on wood-chopping duty. Aïs was the shortest of the three, with shoulder-length cotton candy blue hair, and stern amber eyes. He was the Fourth elf-in-command of all Nine, and rightfully so. He had a temper like a bull, and the X-shaped scar across the bridge of his nose showed just how fierce he could really be, for an elf. Dilan, the Third highest-ranking elf, was perhaps the strongest out of everyone in the factory. He had broad shoulders and a muscular build, a sharp beard and sideburns of the deepest black hue; and it was rumored around the factory that not even a shadow could get as dark as Dilan's eyes were day in and day out. Désiré, however, was the Second elf-in-command of all Nine, and was rumored to have been living among humans in France for the first few hundred years of his life. When he spoke, there were no traces of any accents in his voice; and that was about the only thing keeping doubts following those rumors. Like Dilan and Aïs, he was fairly strong and tall. It didn't really show in his lanky build, but the long, jagged scars across his face and body, and the eye-patch over his right eye were enough proof for anyone just how tough he was.

Artemis bit her lip. She must have crashed into Désiré. Otherwise, why would he have been leering at her with his gold-colored eye?

But suddenly he was grinning down at her and her brother, while he chewed on a piece of pine needle. "Hey brats!" he greeted them as if Artemis hadn't hit him. "Where're you guys off to in such a hurry?"

Aïs raised an arm to wipe the sweat from his brow. Dilan was busy tying some freshly cut pine trees together by their bases with twine. "I believe," Aïs said, itching a little at the scar on his face. "They're on their way to the paddocks to take care of the reindeer. Aren't you, Apollo?" He asked, leering at the twins.

Apollo straightened his shoulders with a blink and nodded his head. "Oh, yes! We were just on our way there!"

"Y-yeah," Artemis added, smiling uncertainly. "So, sorry I bumped you, Dessy!" She darted of a heartbeat later in the direction of the paddocks. Apollo, squeaking, muttered a quick goodbye to the three higher-ups before following her.

Within minutes the twins were reaching the field. Grinning as the herd of reindeer came into view, Apollo gave a quick burst of speed to catch up to Artemis and grab her by the arm. Artemis, in turn, let out a short-lived scream, breathless from running. Giggling happily, she slowed to a walk alongside her brother.

"Okay, no more fooling around." Apollo chuckled, looking out toward the group of reindeer. "Missy, you let them out of the pen, and I'll refill their food and water buckets."

Artemis nodded enthusiastically and hurried over to the gate of the paddock. She dug a gloved hand into her pocket, and pulled out a stunningly-bright golden key. "In the hole, turn to the left, and bam! Open gate!" She laughed as the door swung open a second later. Artemis threw a hand up into the air, and held the other out toward the warm-up runway. "Alright, you guys! Let's get going! There's still a lot of work to be done, so giddy-up!"

Each brown, furry head perked up at the sound of the elf's voice, and then slowly began to clop toward the exit. As always, Artemis called them off by name as they went by: "Dasher, Dancer, Donner, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Prancer, Vixen, and… Rudolph, get up front!" The last reindeer snorted and waved his large antlers before cantering by. Artemis rolled her eyes and sighed. "Honestly—four days, you guys! We have to get things back together!"

Apollo was sitting on the fence post and watching with an amused smirk. "Just let them stretch for a bit. When I'm finished in here we can run them with some flight training." He swung his legs over the fence and landed inside the paddock. With a point of a finger the food and water buckets glittered faintly with magic and hefted themselves up with ease, floating and sparkling all the way to the nearby supply shed.

Artemis leaned against the railings and watched, completely bored. She yawned widely to herself, her exhaustion from this morning starting to catch up to her. Alas, with the reindeer needing to stretch themselves out (which they were) she figured she had a few minutes to relax.

"Another year, another Christmas Eve week rushing around until our ears fall off…" She sighed. "I wonder if we'll ever get a break."

"Humph! As if you need one! All you do is lay around being lazy all the time!" Apollo chuckled, climbing back up onto the fence post beside his sister. "I think you should be put on wood-chopping duty for the week. Désiré could sure use the break." He snickered.

But then from the corners of his eyes, Apollo noticed something and turned toward it. Artemis blinked and followed his gaze. She spotted two familiar elves making their way through the group of reindeer—one of which she wanted to groan at the sight of. Apollo's blue eyes lit up, though, and he smiled wide, waving excitedly. "Hey, it's Lea and Essyn!"

Essyn glanced up from the white whicker basket he held to grin and wave back. He wasn't very tall—he probably only came up to Désiré's shoulder. He was a blond-haired elf much like Apollo, though Essyn's hair was a whole shade darker, and of course his was styled much differently (he liked to call it a "mulhawk", for it wasn't a mullet, but it wasn't a mohawk either). Essyn's eyes were a bright sea-green color, and he was always smiling—just like now.

"Hey guys! You're on reindeer duty today, huh?"

Artemis groaned exasperatedly. "And it's thrilling, as always. I mean, if we can make inanimate objects move, why can't living, breathing reindeer run themselves?"

Essyn's companion, Lea, gave a laugh. Unlike Essyn, Lea was a tall, red-headed elf—one of the tallest in the entire factory—though his frame was thin and lanky like some kind of weakling pine tree. He was much stronger than he looked, though, and his eyes were a stormy, darker green than Essyns. "Lazy as always, huh, punk? Sometimes I wonder how you made it to your rank."

"Hey!" Artemis stomped her boot in the snow.

Lea ignored her with a roll of his eyes before he turned to Apollo, smirking. "Good morning! Sorry to see another lovely day ruined by your sister…"

"What was that?" Artemis gritted her teeth, about to lunge, but Essyn slapped a gloved hand against Lea's shoulder before she could. "Knock it off, Lea! Just because you're on patrol duty today doesn't mean you can go and bug Missy all day."

Apollo, in the meantime, just shook his head. He smirked dryly at the three, and kept to himself on the fence. "Anyway… What are you guys out here for?"

"Berry picking!" Essyn grinned, holding up his basket. "Ienzo and I are making a real special desert for tonight. I think everyone will love it!"

Artemis immediately stopped steaming at the words. "Dessert? With berries?" A wide, excited smile broke out on her face. "Oh, what is it, Essyn? Tell me! Tell me, tell me!"

An elbow was promptly slammed onto her head, making Artemis squeak. "Ah, ah, ah! It's a secret! We aren't telling you!" Lea snickered deviously.

As Apollo reached a hand over to shoo away the limb on her head, Artemis turned to Essyn with pleading eyes. "Awe, come on! Please?"

Essyn just shook his head, laughing. "No way, Missy! That will ruin the surprise!"

Apollo was then smacking his hand down on top of her head, invoking both a flinch and a cry from his sister. "Artemis, you've been eating too much lately. Relax, would you?" Pausing, he then turned a leer of sorts toward Lea. "But wait, if Essyn and _Ienzo _are on cooking duty today, why are _you_ here?"

Well, to that, Essyn's face flushed red and he looked away, mumbling under his breath. Whilst he did, Lea gave a confident grin and ruffled the blond spikes on Apollo's head. "Ha! That, my young friend, is yet another secret that you just wouldn't understand."

"No, I get it," Apollo sneered, peering up despite the hand in his hair. As the many buckets of freshly refilled food and water began to file out from the shack, he hopped down from the fencepost.

Essyn's blush darkened, but he only giggled to himself. Then he shook his head and tugged on Lea's arm. "Come on, you, I've got to get those berries, and these two have to run the reindeer."

Lea snickered and nodded his head. "Sure, sure. You're right. Talk to you guys later! And stay out of trouble, would you, Missy?"

As they took their leave, Artemis glared daggers at the redhead's back until she couldn't see him or Essyn anymore. Only then did she sigh and stretch her arms out above her head, though with a lazy blink, she glanced toward her brother. "Well, the reindeer are probably ready by now. I'll go get the tack and harnesses on while you finish the buckets."

"No, you don't have to." Apollo waved his hand dismissively. "The buckets will finish themselves. Let's go get the harnesses quick, before the reindeer run off without us." He clapped his hand onto her shoulder, smirked, and then jogged off toward the shed. This was the best part about reindeer duty for Apollo, and Artemis knew that. Apollo had always loved getting the reindeer back into the habit of flying for Christmas Eve.

With a little smile of her own and a shake of her head, she quickly hurried after him. Maybe if she worked hard enough today, she would get first bite of whatever dessert Essyn and Ienzo were making!


End file.
